Tobias and the Angel
Filippino Lippi·c. 1475/1480
Historical Context
Filippino Lippi's Tobias and the Angel from around 1475-80 depicts the Old Testament narrative of the young Tobias guided by the Archangel Raphael on his journey — a subject popular in Florence partly because Raphael was patron of travelers and the Florentine wool guild's young merchants traveled widely. The young Tobias with his fishy companion and his angelic protector was one of the most charming subjects in Florentine devotional painting, combining the appeal of a young boy's adventure with theological reassurance about divine protection during travel. Filippino's early treatment reflects his Botticellian training in the elegant figure types and the graceful landscape setting.
Technical Analysis
Filippino's oil and tempera on poplar panel shows his early Botticellian grace with flowing drapery, delicate landscape, and the refined linear quality that gives his youthful works their distinctive elegance.
Provenance
Alexander Barker [c. 1797-1873], London, by 1868;[1] (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 19-21 June 1879, 3rd day, no. 498, as by A. Pollaiuolo); (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); presumably Colonel William Cornwallis-West; (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 23 April 1887, no. 78, as by Antonio Pollaiuolo);[2] purchased by (P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London and New York) for Robert Henry [1850-1929] and Evelyn Holford [1856-1943] Benson, London and Buckhurst Park, Sussex; sold 1927 with the Benson collection to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York);[3] sold May 1936 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1939 to NGA. [1] The painting is listed as the property of Alexander Barker in the catalogue of the National Exhibition in Leeds, held in 1868. Since, on the other hand, it is not mentioned by Gustav Waagen in his descriptions of the Barker collection (_Treasures of Art in Great Britain_, 3 vols, London, 1854: 2:125; _Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain_, London, 1857: 71-79), it may have been acquired only after 1857. On Alexander Barker, see John Fleming, "Art Dealing in the Risorgimento. Part 2," _The Burlington Magazine_ 121, no. 917 (August 1979): 505-506. [2] Fern Rusk Shapley, _Catalogue of the Italian Paintings_, 2 vols., Washington, D.C., 1979: 1:259 n. 4. The Getty Provenance Index provides the information that the seller, unidentified in the sale catalogue, was presumably Cornwallis-West. Robert Henry Benson's notes on the painting's history (transcript provided in 1976 by his grandson, Peter Wake, and in NGA curatorial files) read: "Bought at Christie's for about 275 Pounds -in the same sale was a Signorelli 'Christ in the House of Simon' (?). I wanted both, but Henry Doyle, then director of the Irish National Gallery came up and proposed that we should not oppose each other and if I would give up bidding for the Signorelli, he would not oppose me for the Filippino - I was miserable at losing the Signorelli _until_ Fairfax Murray got me the 'Madonna of the Casa Tommassi' on a gold ground from Cortona." [3] The sale of this well-known collection caused an enormous stir; see for example Tancred Borenius, "The Benson Collection," _Apollo_ 6 (1927): 65-70; Frank E. Washburn Freund, "Die Sammlung Benson," _Der Cicerone_ 19 (1927): 495-502. [4] The Duveen Brothers letter confirming the sale of thirteen paintings and one sculpture, including NGA 1939.1.229, is dated 18 May 1936; the provenance is given as "Benson Coll'n" (copy in NGA curatorial files; Box 474, Folder 5, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2369.
